Today I’m delving into one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year so far: Her Many Faces by Nicci Cloke. I was instantly gripped by the premise, but how did the story itself stack up?
Thank you to Harvill Secker for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This review originally appeared on The Nerd Daily.
When four influential members of London’s most exclusive private club are poisoned, a young waitress is charged with their murder. Now her personal life and upbringing are under the microscope, and the people closest to Katie start to question what they know about her.
Her father remembers the sweet schoolgirl.
Her childhood friend misses her kindness and protection.
Her lover regrets ever falling for her.
Her lawyer believes she is hiding something.
A journalist is convinced she is a cold-blooded killer.
FIVE MEN. FIVE STORIES. BUT ARE THEY READY FOR HERS?
Publication Date: 3rd July
CW: death, murder, violence, gaslighting, sexual assault, drugging, blackmail, cheating
My Thoughts:
Her Many Faces is hands down one of my favourite thrillers I’ve read this year. It was incredibly gripping with a unique slant and a story that you cannot tear yourself away from.
One of the immediate hooks for this book for me was the bold and blistering narrative choice Nicci Cloke makes with the structure of the book. Rather than hearing from Katie herself, we see through the perspective of five men from her life as they grapple with their perceptions of her and their roles in her story. It is such an inspired choice to frame the narrative in this manner. Cloke makes the reader complicit in the dehumanisation of Katie as part of the media storm around this scandalous case. She is treated by the roles she may have played with men, which is the focus of much speculation, rather than as the three-dimensional human that she is. It is reductionist and illustrates how people are turned into caricatures or stereotypes to fit boxes for entertainment or easy pigeon-holing, especially women. After all, it is comforting to place blame and ascribe evil to one easy aspect of the world. If you are forced to confront the messiness of reality, then you get bogged down in wider ideas of what may constitute good and evil and what the grey areas in between may look like. Cloke delights in that blurriness and that moral ambiguity, constantly toying with the reader’s expectations. It is social commentary that bristles with anger and feels searingly relevant. In the age of a true crime boom, it feels timely to have a book that explicitly pushes back against the sensationalism of violence and treats the people involved as fractured, complicated people rather than flat characters. It is a genius way to tackle the psychological thriller and add something new.
The gendered aspect of it is very much a core focus too with an interesting take on the male gaze. All of these men see Katie in a different light, biased by their own histories and feelings.
As the reader switches between their viewpoints, you are confronting these alongside them. Cloke expertly leads the reader down various avenues of speculation and you may find yourself switching from chapter to chapter. You are working on scarce information, leaving it wide open to biases and wild speculation. Each of these men is also using Katie in one way or another, though they may not recognise it. They are stuck in their view of her rather than seeing the overall picture. Their experiences form a rich tapestry that always feels incomplete because the key part is withheld from the reader. It all culminates in a wonderfully explosive courtroom conclusion that you will be thinking about for weeks after.
The pacing in this book is exquisite with Cloke keeping a constant sense of tension and paranoia. You don’t know who to trust or what the truth is. It feels like one long game of cat and mouse until you reach the final page. I also have to commend the feat of skill that the plotting of this book is. There are so many elements at play that Cloke keeps balanced, nudging you with a tiny detail at times that then rears its head again in a very different context. At times, you may think you have all of the puzzle pieces but you rarely do. Just like the baying public, you want to dig through this woman’s life and uncover the sordid truth of what happened that night. You’ll be pulled down the rabbit hole to find the truth. For me, it is the definitive standard of compulsive reading.
Her Many Faces is a thriller that holds nothing back and sears you with its thought-provoking narrative choices. Do not let yourself miss this masterclass in pacing and tension.
A Short Book Lover 
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